The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Various systems and procedures have been proposed for repairing damaged cartilage within a patient's body. For instance, healthy cartilage can be harvested from one area of the body (i.e., the donor site) and moved to another area of the body (i.e., the defect site) where cartilage is damaged. The harvested cartilage can be attached to the defect site, and the harvested cartilage can then grow on and repair the defect site.
In some cases, access to the donor and/or defect site can be limited. For instance, anatomical features may get in the way of certain instruments, thus limiting the ability of the surgeon to obtain cartilage from the donor site and/or place the harvested cartilage on the defect site. Also, the harvesting instruments may have limited access to the donor and/or defect site because these sites may have complex surface curvature. This limited access can complicate the harvesting procedure, for instance, necessitating multiple incisions in the patient, etc.
Thus, a system for repairing damaged cartilage is discussed in detail herein below. A method of using this system to repair damaged cartilage is also disclosed.